Fading
by Karli Garwin Winchester
Summary: Second Generation of the Covenant. After a tragic accident, Peyton moved to Ipswich to stay with her Uncle and attend Spencer Academy. She tries to go along with life, but carries the secret of her best friend with her
1. Fading

**So this is the story that I started writing a few weeks ago, the second generation of the Covenant. The new sons will make their appearance in the next chapter.**

**I'm working on A Beautiful Lie and also another story that I thought about while I was in the hospital. It'll prolly be short, prolly about ten chapters or so, just to help me deal with everything i've been through**

**and I wanna thank all of you who reviewed on my note on A Beautiful Lie, they made me feel better about still being here.**

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* * *

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_Thirteen_

_"Taylor, this place is awesome." I said, looking over at my best friend Taylor Michaels. _

_"I know, I thought that you'd like it." Taylor told me as she led me through the heavily forested area. It was like a magical place to me._

_"How did you find it?" I asked her._

_"I went for a run and I came across it." She explained. "Now are you gonna keep asking questions Peyton or are you gonna explore with me?" I took her hand and we both ran around our new hangout. We stopped at a tree and there was already a tree house built. It looked like no one had been there in years so I wasn't so sure about going to explore but Taylor practically dragged me up there._

_"This place looks awesome." Taylor said, looking around._

_"Be careful Tay, this place doesn't look sturdy." I told her._

_"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to us here." Taylor told me. "This will be our special place."_

_"Our home away from home." I added. _

_"Our secret. No one can know about it." Taylor said, holding out her closed fist with the exception of her pinky. I wrapped hers around mine and firmly shook._

_"No one will know about this place but us." I agreed._

_"Oh I didn't show you the best part." Taylor said as she dragged me back down the ladder and around the forest_

_"What's the best part?" I asked her._

_"You'll see Peyt. You'll love it." She promised me as she continued dragging me along. She came go a sudden stop and I had to catch myself to keep from falling in the creek that she led me to. _

_"Wow Tay, it looks amazing." I told her as I looked around. The creek look absolutely peaceful to me and beyond that was more forest that looked like heaven._

_"How do we get over there?" I asked her. Taylor just smiled and ran over to an old rope that was tied to a tree branch above the creek. "Tay, that doesn't look safe at all." _

_"Peyt, trust me." Taylor said as she took hold of the rope and swung across safely. She threw the rope back over to me and I caught it nervously. I wasn't sure if this was a good idea but I took a deep breath and swung across. I almost forgot to touch down on the ground but Taylor caught me and helped me up. _

_"See, nothing bad happened." Taylor said with a small smirk as the two of us ran around over here. It was about the same as the other side but the different was it seemed more free over here because the creek separated us from everything else. _

_

* * *

___

Fifteen

_"I can't believe Jessica just had to be such a bitch." I told Taylor as we walked around our special place._

_"It's because she's jealous of you Peyt." Taylor told me._

_"Why would she be jealous?" I asked. Not like I had anything._

_"Because didn't you notice that all the while she was trying to get Jordan's attention, he was looking at you." Jordan was the most popular senior at Salem High School, every girl wanted him and of course I was no exception._

_"No he wasn't." I shook my head. "He can have any girl he wants."_

_"But he was looking at you Peyt. Wake up and take a look around. He's absolutely crazy about you." Taylor said with a smirk. _

_"Shut up Tay." I said, lightly pushing her. _

_"I'm serious Peyt." Taylor said. "You should try talking to him some day."_

_"I just can't." I shook my head as we climbed up to the tree house. Since we found it two years ago, we had completely decorated it with pictures of us and other things that made it our home. _

_"But why not?" Taylor asked as she laid down on the inflatable mattress we put up there._

_"Because he's a senior and I'm only a sophomore." I told her as I grabbed a Diet Coke out of the box on the floor and took a seat beside her._

_"That's two year difference, so what?" She asked. _

_"It's just not done, you know that." I said. "So can we please get off of the subject of Jordan Daniels?"_

_"Sorry hun." Taylor said, giving me a hug. "So do you wanna stay up here tonight?"_

_"We have school in the morning Tay. Besides, my parents will flip." I told her._

_"Alright." Taylor sighed and together we walked down from the tree house and walked back to civilization._

_

* * *

___

Seventeen

_I was sleeping peacefully in my bed when my phone decided that it was time to wake me up as it started ringing loudly beside my head._

_"Sunva bitch." I muttered into my pillow as I reached out to answer it. "Hello?"_

_"Peyton." A male voice said._

_"Who's this?" I asked grumpily. "And what time is it?"_

_"It's around eight thirty and it's Jordan." That had my full attention._

_"Hi. How'd you get my number?" I asked him. _

_"I've been asking around for months but no one would give it to me." He confessed. "I ran into Taylor the other day and she gave it to me. Told me to give you a call."_

_"She did, huh?" I asked. It's been two years and Tay was still trying to get me to go out with him._

_"Yeah. You don't mind, do you?" He asked. _

_"No of course not." I told him. "What's up?"_

_"Well I was wondering what you were doing today." Jordan told me._

_"Nothing that I know of, why?" I asked._

_"Figured you might want to go out with me today." Jordan said. _

_"Of course." I nodded._

_"I'll pick you up in half an hour." Jordan said before hanging up. I jumped out of bed and instantly ran over to my closet, looking through it for something that Jordan would like me in. I decided on a pair of blue jeans, a black tank top, and Taylor's black hoodie that she let me borrow. I did my make up very light so it looked natural but you could still see it and brushed out my dirty blonde hair, letting it flow freely down my shoulders. I grabbed my phone and debated whether or not to call Tay this early and decided against it as I slipped on my black fallens and walked out the door just as Jordan pulled up in his blue Audi. I hopped into the passenger seat and buckled myself up as he pulled away._

_"You look great Peyton." Jordan told me as he looked me over. I blushed under his gaze as I looked him over too. He was wearing black jeans, a black Disturbed T-shirt and a AFI hoodie resting beside him. His dark brown hair was hanging in his face and I could see his bright emerald green eyes shining in the early morning light. _

_"You don't look too bad yourself." I told him. We both laughed as he continued on driving. "So where are we going?" _

_"That's for me to know and for you to find out when we get there." Jordan told me. "But I talked to Taylor and I figured that this would be the perfect place to take you."_

_"Well then I must trust your judgment if you talked to Tay." I told him as he continued. I started to grow nervous as we continued on our way. I didn't want to say something stupid or do anything stupid to him. _

_"We're here." Jordan told me as he stopped the car. I hopped out and looked up at our day's activity with a smile on my face._

_"Go carts?" I asked happily, turning back to him._

_"My dad owns the place." He told me. "He told me he'd close it down for as long as we wanted."_

_"This is so awesome." I said as we walked into the place and turned to him. "So you ready to get beat by a girl?"_

_"Oh I think you are dreaming young one, It will be I who will win." Jordan said with a smirk._

_"Oh you wish." I said, playfully shoving him and running toward the carts. I put on my helmet and strapped myself in as Jordan did the same._

_"Ready. Set. Go." Jordan and I both took off around the track, trying to gain the advantage over the other. We whipped around the course what felt like a thousand times before we decided to call it quits._

_"I won." I said proudly as I got out of the cart and took my helmet on._

_"You're a great racer. For a girl." Jordan said with a wink, making me roll my eyes._

_"You're just mad that girls can totally kick your butt." I said with a smirk. _

_"Whatever you say." Jordan said rolling his eyes. He led me into the main building and over to the small ice cream parlor. He got us a big sundae to share and two spoons and led me over to a small private table near the back._

_"This is so awesome Jordan." I told him as I took a bite of the sundae. "Thank you for asking me out today."_

_"I'm glad you enjoyed it Peyton." Jordan said with a smile at me. By the time we finished the sundae, it was three in the afternoon. There was a sharp pain in my side and I started to feel sick._

_"I should probably get back." I told him. "I still have homework to do."_

_"But it's Saturday." Jordan pouted._

_"I know but I usually do homework Saturdays so I can hang out with Tay and relax on Sundays." I explained._

_"Alright, I'll drive you home then." Jordan walked me out of the building and over to his Audi. He opened my door for me before jogging over to the other side and getting in. He started up the engine and drove off toward my house._

_"This really was fun Jordan." I told him. He smiled over at me and took my hand in his. The rest of the ride, he made me laugh so hard, I had to remember to thank Tay for this. He stopped outside my house and I sighed. I didn't want to leave but I knew I had to get back into the house._

_"I'll call you later." Jordan told me, taking my hand and kissing the back of it._

_"You better." I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before getting out of the car and walking up to my house. I heard Jordan leave as I walked into the house _

_"Peyton. Peyton is that you?" I heard my mother call from the living room. _

_"Yeah it's me." I told her. As I walked into the living room, I was instantly swept into a hug._

_"Thank god you're okay." My mother said, hugging me tight._

_"Yeah, I'm okay but I kinda can't breathe right now." I told her. My mother was never this emotional; something was wrong. _

_"We thought you had died." My father said as he pulled me into his arms after my mother released me. _

_"Dead?" I asked, pulling back. "What do you mean?" Both of my parents looked down, avoiding my gaze. "What did I miss?"_

_"It's Taylor." My mother said. _

_"What about Tay?" I asked nervously. Again they avoided my gaze. "Tell me what the fuck is going on!"_

_"She drowned." My father finally said. "She was swinging across the creek on a rope and it broke. They think she hit her head." I felt the world spinning around me. There was no way that Tay was dead. Tay was like my twin, my other half. Then I remembered the pain that I had felt earlier. Was that my body telling me something was completely wrong, that my other half was dying. _

_"Peyton." My mother moved to hug me again but I backed away._

_"You're lying." I muttered under my breath, shaking my head._

_"Peyton, I'm sorry." my mother tried again. I just moved away from her again._

_"Don't touch me." I said, my voice strong._

_"Peyton." My father tried._

_"She's not dead!" I yelled, running out of my house and down the street to Taylor's house, where there were cop cars outside. Outside beside the cop cars were Taylor's parents._

_"Peyton." Taylor's mother started as she wrapped me into a hug. _

_"It's not true." I cried into her shoulder. "We had plans for today."_

_"It is true sweetheart." Her mother told me as she cried. _

_"No, it's not!" I yelled, pushing her away. I was pulled into a hug, this time by Taylor's cousin Dan. "Let me go!"_

_"Calm down." Dan whispered to me softly._

_"She's fine. She's just asleep in her room!" I yelled trying to get out of his grasp._

_"Peyton." Dan said firmly. I couldn't fight anymore and I broke down in his arms. _

_"I was supposed to hang out with her today." I told him. "It's all my fault."_

_"It's not your fault Peyton. Taylor wouldn't want you thinking like that." Dan said softly._

_"But it is my fault Dan. I was supposed to be with her. When the rope broke, I would've been there to save her." I instantly felt extremely guilty. How could I have ditched Taylor for a guy. My other half for some kid I promised myself I would never see again. _

_"Peyton." I was shocked at the sound. I looked up to see Taylor but there was something different about her. Soon, everything faded away but Taylor and me._

_"Tay?" I asked, my voice small and scared._

_"This is your fault." Taylor accused. "You were supposed to be with me!"_

_"I'm sorry Tay. I'm really sorry." I cried._

_"Sorry will never fix this Peyton." Taylor said coldly. "I'm dead because of you!"_

* * *

I woke up in a cold sweat, my hair sticking out in all different angles. I tried to steady my breathing as the scene faded away and I found myself back in the guest bedroom of my Uncle Carter's house in Ipswich. After what had happened to Taylor a month earlier, I couldn't stay in Salem anymore. Everywhere I looked, I saw Taylor yelling at me, blaming me for what had happened and I knew that I had deserved it. I slowly got out of bed and walked over to my closet where I had a box containing all of Taylor's things that I had managed to sneak from her room. A bunch of pictures of the two of us, her iPod, a bear that I had bought her for her birthday two years earlier, notes that we had passed around in class, a necklace that I had made for her in second grade, and the bracelet I had made for her at camp in third grade. I couldn't help as the tears fell from my eyes. I missed Tay so much and I sometimes wished that I had gone with her; the scars on my wrist were proof of that. I closed the box and put it back in the far corner of the closet before shutting the door and walking back over to my bed.

"I'm sorry Tay." I cried silently into my pillow as I fell into a restless sleep.


	2. Ipswitch

On Monday morning, I woke up expecting that everything that had happened was a dream, but found that it wasn't. Tay was really gone and she wasn't ever coming back. I got out of bed and winced as I stretched out my newly cut wrist. I felt one of the wounds open up and walked into the bathroom to put a damp towel on it to ease the burning and stop the blood flow. Once I was cleaned up, I walked back into my bedroom and changed into my Spencer uniform. Since I was a transfer in the middle of the year, they weren't able to get me a dorm yet so I would be staying at my Uncle Carter's house for the time being and drive myself to school. I hated wearing the skirt, I wasn't the biggest girly girl and this ugly blue plaid skirt was why. I sighed as I finished getting ready and walked out of my room to find Uncle Carter at the kitchen table with my Aunt Claire.

"Good morning Peyton." Aunt Claire said, giving me a warm smile.

"Morning." I replied. There was nothing good about it, not anymore.

"Ready for your first day at Spencer?" Uncle Carter asked.

"I guess." I shrugged. "Where are my keys?"

"By the door." Aunt Claire said. "I put your bag there too."

"Okay." I said as I walked out of the kitchen.

"Don't you want any Breakfast?" She called out.

"I'm not hungry." I called back as I grabbed my bag and my keys before walking out of the house. I threw my bag into the back of my Uncle's 1995 Camaro Z28 and slid into the passenger seat. I was able to control my shaking as I started up the car and sped away from the house. I made a quick stop to Starbucks to get a tall Vanilla bean frappuccino and then continued on my way to Spencer. I parked the car in the center of the student lot and then walked into the school. I was vaguely aware of the stares I was receiving as I walked through the halls and followed my schedule that I had gotten when I registered. I walked into my new literature class just as the bell rang.

"How can I help you?" the professor asked.

"I'm Peyton Cahors." I said, showing him the new schedule.

"Ah yes, I was expecting you." the professor, I looked down at my schedule to see his name, Clay said. He then turned to the class.

"Now class, we have a new student." I groaned as the class went quiet and all eyes were on me. "This is Peyton Cahors."

"Total Hottie." I looked up to see a boy with tan skin and curly brownish-red hair looking down at me with a smirk.

"Andrew Abbott, I don't want to hear another word from you today." The kid Andrew just smirked. Professor Clay then scanned the class and turned to me. "Why don't you go take a seat next to Mr. Parry." He pointed up to the fourth row to an empty seat beside a boy with very tanned skin and dark brown hair. I nodded as I walked up the steps to sit beside him. I put my bag on the desk and leaned back in my chair.

"Jeraud Parry." He introduced himself.

"Peyton Cahors." I said as I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to focus on the lesson.

"What brings you to Ipswich?" Jeraud asked.

"I don't feel like talking about it." I said, not turning to look at him.

"Alright. I'm sure you'll like it here though." Jeraud said with a warm smile.

"I highly doubt that." I said dismissively as Professor Clay discussed To Kill a Mockingbird.

"Stupid fuckin book." I muttered under my breath. Taylor and I had been reading that for our literature class.

"Got something against it?" Jeraud asked. I didn't know that he could hear me.

"Kinda, yeah." I nodded.

"Care to share?" Jeraud asked.

"Not really, no." I told him.

"You're not a very open person, are you?" He asked.

"Apparently not." I answered. Well the bell rang, I picked up my bag and walked out of the classroom as fast as I could. I wanted to leave Jeraud behind. I took a sip of my still good frappuccino as I continued down the hall and into my next class, Physics. I showed my schedule to Professor Johnson who sat me at a table with a tall broody looking boy with short black hair and blue eyes.

"Brian Danvers." The boy introduced himself.

"Peyton Cahors." I said my name and turned away.

"So where did you transfer from?" He asked.

"Salem." I answered.

"Why did you come so late?" He tried again.

"Didn't have a choice." I said simply.

"You are a girl of few words, aren't you?" He tried.

"Yep." I nodded and started jotting down notes that Professor Johnson gave. I felt as though this was going to be a long day if everyone tried to get me to talk. I was about to fall asleep when the bell signaled the end of class. Before Brian could try and get me to talk more, I grabbed my stuff and booked out of that class. I looked down at my schedule and saw I had Calculus next.

"Oh joy. More hard shit." I mumbled to myself as I made my way down the hall, hoping that I was heading in the right direction. I finally found my classroom just as the bell rang and told Professor Connors that I was a new transfer student. He looked at his seating chart and sat me beside a boy with coppery red hair and blue eyes.

"Edward Simms." The boy told me._ God Damnit._ I said to myself.

"Peyton Cahors and no I do not feel like talking." I told him before he started to spout off a thousand questions.

"If that's what you want." Edward said indifferently. "But incase you have any questions, I'm here to help."

"Gotcha." I said as I watched the lesson. My mind started to wander back to Salem days.

"_Can you answer the question Taylor?" Mr. Janes asked, looking over to where Taylor and I had been laughing._

"_Uh, depends on what the question was." Taylor said._

"_How do you solve this equation?" He asked again. Taylor looked at the board and then back over at me. I just shook my head._

"_Uh, add a number?" Taylor asked._

"_It's a little more complicated than that Taylor." Mr. Janes said, turning to me. "What about you Peyton?"_

"_Subtract twelve?" I guessed, shrugging._

"_Do you girls really believe that you will pass my class at this rate?" Mr. Janes asked._

"_Not really." We replied at the same time._

"_That's what cramming before finals is for." Taylor said._

"_Yeah, and coffee." I added as we both laughed._

"_Can you girls please take this seriously?" He asked. _

"_Not really." I said._

"_Sorry." Taylor said as we both laughed again._

"Peyton." I was brought out of my mini flashback by Edward waving his hand in front of my face.

"Huh?" I asked, jumping slightly.

"Class is over." he told me.

"Oh, thanks." I said, a tad embarrassed as I collected my things.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"I'm wonderful." I told him.

"Do you want me to take you to the infirmary?" Edward asked.

"I'm fine." I told him as I walked out of the classroom. I looked down at my schedule and saw that I had gym. I sighed as I made my way down to the gym area and showed Ms. Davids my schedule. She told me I could sit out today which I was thankful for because they were playing lacrosse and that did not go well with me. That was a sport that didn't go well with me. I sat to the side and watched the girls play, it looked like they didn't like it much either. Ms. Davids yelled on more than one occasion and I knew right then and there that I would not have any fun in this class. I didn't talk to any of the girls, I didn't feel like bonding.

The bell rang again and I found that I had lunch next. Wonderful. I walked up to where I guessed the lunchroom was and got in line to see what they had. I didn't really feel like eating anything that was up there so I just grabbed a small bag of Doritos and a diet coke. I paid the woman and went to find somewhere to sit. I didn't really want to be surrounded by people so I took a seat far away from everyone else near a window and opened the Doritos. I pulled out my phone and saw that I had a few messages from Dan asking if I was okay and how I was taking to Spencer.

'_I hate it here.' _I texted him. _'There are all these happy people and I sit next to three boys in my classes who Tay would be all over' _I slipped my phone back into my bag and finished my chips, taking a few sips of soda. I looked up and saw Jeraud, Brian, and Edward sitting with a blonde boy talking in hushed voices, looking up at me every once in a while. I tried to ignore it as I stood up and walked out of the lunchroom. The bell sounded behind me and I figured I should make my way to my next class, Mythology.

"Why did I let Uncle Carter make up my schedule?" I mumbled to myself as I walked into the classroom and like my other classes, showed the professor my schedule.

"Alright Ms. Cahors," Professor Hanson started. "You can take a seat beside Mr. Garwin." I looked up to see the blonde boy that the others were talking to look up with a smile.

"Jacob Garwin." He said with what seemed to be his sexy smirk.

"So I saw you and your friends talking and looking at me so I know you know my name." I told him.

"Peyton." Jacob nodded. "Yeah, I heard."

"So what was you little group saying?" I asked.

"That you don't seem to talk much, but it seems as though I got you to talk more than they have." Jacob said.

"Well don't get used to it." I told him.

"But why not? You have a beautiful voice." Jacob told me.

"Because I'm not a talker." I said.

"But you're talking now." Jacob tried.

"That's because I'm letting you know that I like my space." I told him before turning away from him and listening to Professor Hanson's lecture. As the class went on, I really wondered why my Uncle had signed me up for this class. When the bell rang, I quickly bolted and searched for my last class of the day, History. When I found it, I walked in and showed Professor Mates my schedule.

"Looks like we have a full class." He muttered to himself as he looked over his seating chart. "But it looks like there is a seat available at the top row beside Mr. Parry." I groaned and looked up, seeing that Brian and Jeraud were sitting together and two rows down Edward and Jacob were together.

"Wonderful." I muttered as I made my way to the top row and sat down beside Jeraud.

"We meet again." Jeraud said with a smirk.

"I guess we do." I nodded. I put my bag on the desk and laid my head down on it. Today was just so tiring.

"_Come on Peyton." I turned to find Taylor a few feet in front of me, very much alive._

"_Tay?" I asked, shocked._

"_Come on slowpoke, We need to get to PeyTay." Taylor said, using our name for our special place. She then took off running._

"_Wait up." I yelled after her as I followed her. "Damnit Tay, you know I'm not as fast as you." Taylor didn't seem to hear me as she continued to run all out._

"_Come on Peyt, I gotta tell you something when we get there." She told me._

"_Well if you slow your ass down, you can tell me now." I told her._

"_No, you gotta hurry up." She called behind her with a laugh. I rolled my eyes and caught up to her by the creek. _

"_Okay, tell me." I told her. She just turned to me, the light gone from her eyes as she grabbed hold of the rope._

"_How about I show you." She kicked off and started to head across the creek when the rope broke and she fell into the overflowing creek._

"_Tay!"_

My eyes snapped open and I found myself back in my History class. I looked around and found that everyone's focus was on Professor Mates except for Jeraud; his eyes were on me.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"F-Fine." I nodded.

"Are you sure? You don't look so good." Jeraud said as nicely as he could.

"I said I'm fine." I whispered harshly as the bell rang and I practically ran out of the class and out of the school. Once I was back in my car, I looked my appearance over in the rearview mirror. My blonde hair was sticking out at all different angles and my skin was paler than it normally should be. My eyes had a scared glint in them that they'd had for the past month. I carefully backed out of my parking space and sped away from Spencer and back to my Uncle's house. When I walked in, Aunt Claire was in the kitchen working on dinner.

"Oh you're home." She said, smiling warmly. "How was your first day?"

"Boring." I told her. She took in my appearance and frowned.

"Are you feeling alright Peyton? You look a little sick." She said worriedly.

"I'm fine. I think I just need a nap." I told her as I left her in the kitchen and retreated into my bedroom. I threw my bag on the desk along with my keys and collapsed on my bed. I soon found myself in a dreamless sleep for the rest of the night.


	3. Confrontation

**I know it's been a while but I've been busy and completely forgot about this story. SORRY!! But good news is, the 4th chapter is already written, along with part of the 5th so i'll prolly update again Sunday or Monday since I'm SOOOOOO ditching school monday. You should all know why lol. Anyway, on with the story**

* * *

The next day, I woke up at five in the morning, an hour and a half earlier than I needed to. I groaned as I took a quick shower and changed into my second Spenser Uniform. I had gotten five, knowing full well that I would only do laundry probably only once a week. I grabbed my backpack and walked downstairs, finding Uncle Carter and Aunt Claire in the kitchen again.

"Good morning sleepy head." Aunt Claire said cheerfully. "We missed you at Dinner last night. We tried to wake you but you just pushed us away and went back to sleep."

"Yeah, sorry. I'm kinda a heavy sleeper." I told her. "I'm gonna head off to school now."

"Why don't you sit down and have breakfast?" She asked. "I'm sure you have a while to get there."

"Yeah, but I wanna get there early, ya know." I muttered, backing away. "Get with the learning."

"But you must be starving." Uncle Carter said.

"I'll grab a muffin at Starbucks." I said as I bolted from the house. I practically hopped into the car and sped away from the house to grad my frappuccino from Starbucks before going to school. I decided to forego the muffin because I wasn't really that hungry and just sipped on my drink as I pulled up to the school and walked inside. I noticed that I was a few minutes late and groaned as I walked into my literature class.

"You're late Ms. Cahors." Professor Clay told me.

"I'm sorry, I got lost." I told him. "You know, new school and all and I don't have a dorm so I gotta drive from home."

"Just don't let it happen again." He said, taking pity on the new student. I nodded and made my way over to my seat where Jeraud was waiting.

"Hey Peyton." He said with a warm smile.

"Hi." I nodded as I sat down and tried to pay attention to Professor Clay's lecture.

"So do you always have Starbucks in the morning?" I groaned, he was trying to get me to talk again.

"Yeah and it doesn't help that the only Starbucks you people have is on the other side of town." I told him.

"Well then maybe one day I can bring it for you." Jeraud said with a smile. "Then you won't be late to class."

"I can get my own Starbucks, thanks." I told him.

"Just thought I'd be nice." Jeraud said.

"Stop it, will you." I hissed under my breath. "Happy, you got me to talk, now don't."

"Sorry." Jeraud said and turned back to the lecture though I could tell that he still wasn't listening. When the bell rang, I practically leapt out of my seat and bolted out the door to head to Chemistry. I walked into the classroom and took my seat, finding Brian not here yet. When I looked up, out of the corner of my eye I saw Brian talking to Jeraud and looking over at me briefly. I muttered some choice words under my breath and sucked down more of my Starbucks as Brian walked into the room and took a seat beside me.

"If you're going to talk about me," I started, "You probably shouldn't make it so obvious."

"We weren't." Brian said automatically. "We were talking about Jeraud's new motorcycle."

"You're not a very good liar, are you?" I asked.

"I guess not." he said, giving me a small laugh. I bit my cheek to keep from smiling.

"Just don't do it anymore." I said as I turned back to the front of the class. Brian didn't try to talk to me anymore after that and I was thankful. Once class was over, I threw my now empty Starbucks cup away and walked down to my Calculus class where I was anticipating Edward's start up conversation. As I took my seat beside him, he didn't seem to acknowledge my presence.

"Thank god." I muttered to myself. I stared at the bored, trying to focus on all the problems but found it all too confusing. Maybe I should've paid attention in Salem. I jotted down the homework and decided to work on that later as I booked out of the classroom and walked down to Gym. Ms. Davids made me get dressed today but I didn't care because we were playing basketball; that was a sport I could tolerate. Ms. Davids put us into teams and then the game started. The other team had the ball so I decided to take position near the hoop; this girl looked like she was the best player in the class so I figured she would try and shoot and I could try and block. True, she threw the ball and I was able to deflect it, but it ended up hitting another girl in the back.

"Shit, I'm sorry." I told her. She just turned around to glare at me. She had curly reddish hair and blue eyes.

"Oh my god, are you alright Kara?" One of the other girls asked.

"What's the matter Abbott?" Ms. Davids asked, coming over to us.

"That new girl just threw the ball at me." the girl Kara Abbott complained.

"I didn't throw it." I defended. "I was trying to deflect the ball and it went in her direction."

"No, I saw her throw it directly at Kara." The other girl said. "I think she has something against her."

"I don't want to hear it Ms. Jens." Ms. Davids said. "I saw that it was an accident so why don't you take Ms. Abbott up to the infirmary." She nodded and the two girls walked out of the gym. I sat out the rest of the period, feeling bad that I had hurt this girl. After class, I walked into the lunch room, grabbed a small bag of Doritos and a diet Coke again and took my seat by the window. As I sat there, I was approached by Jacob and Edward.

"Hi Peyt." Jacob said with a smile.

"Don't call me that." I said, glaring at the nickname as he took a seat across from me.

"But it's short for…" He started.

"I know what it's short for!" I yelled. "Don't call me that."

"Alright, I won't." Jacob said. The look he and Edward shared was of utter confusion.

"What are you two even doing over here anyway?" I asked, looking to where Jeraud and Brian were sitting, watching us. "Aren't you missing your other half?"

"You want us to bring them over?" Edward asked.

"No!" I told him. "I want you two to leave me alone."

"But you looked lonely." Edward told us.

"And…" Jacob started.

"You." I looked up to see the kid from the other day, Andrew, standing beside Kara. I could instantly see the family resemblance.

"Me." I nodded.

"Just go away Abbott." Jacob said, glaring at the other boy.

"You hurt my little sister." Andrew told me.

"It was a fuckin accident." I told him. "We were playing basketball, sometimes people get hurt."

"That's not true Andrew." Kara said, pretending to cry. "I was playing and I turned my back and she threw it at me as hard as she could."

"If your back was turned, how would you know if I threw it at you?" I questioned. Kara looked at a loss for words.

"Be-Because Samantha saw you." Kara said, nudging the girl from before.

"Yeah, you seriously chucked it at her." Samantha said.

"I so don't have time for this." I muttered, standing up and grabbing my bag.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Andrew asked.

"Well we're in school, so I'm gonna say class." I told him.

"You are a smartass." Andrew said, standing in front of me.

"Yes I am smart, thank you." I said, going to walk around him but he just took a step in front of me.

"Leave her alone Abbott." Jacob said as he moved to stand in front of me, Edward at his side. I could feel everyone's eyes on us and felt myself turning red, both with anger and embarrassment.

"Why don't you make me." Andrew hissed. It looked like Jacob and Andrew were about to go at it, but a professor walked over and broke it up. When Jacob and Edward turned back to me, I just avoided their gaze and walked out of the cafeteria. Once in my Mythology class, I sat down and stared at my bag.

"_Cahors!" I looked up at Jessica Moore who was glaring at me._

"_Moore." I said in a calm tone._

"_You are a stupid fuckin bitch!" She yelled. I looked around the cafeteria and found that all eyes were on us._

"_And why is that?" I asked as I stood up._

"_Because you're sleeping around with Jordan and Michael." Michael was another guy who Jessica liked but I guess that he had his eyes on me._

"_You fuckin skank." Taylor glared at Jessica from beside me. I could tell that Taylor wanted to hit her as bad as I did._

"_I am not sleeping around with anyone Jessie, I don't know what you're smoking." I said, trying to remain calm._

"_Why else would they like you?!" Jessica asked._

"_Maybe because I'm the one _not _sleeping around." I shrugged._

"_Fuckin whore!" Jessica lunged for me. Taylor stood in front of me, protecting me. Jessica brought her fists up but Taylor was quicker and punched Jessica square in the jaw._

I jumped back to the present when I felt Jacob's hand on my shoulder.

"You alright?" He asked. "You looked out of it."

"I'm fine." I told him. "Thanks for the whole thing in the cafeteria."

"Don't mention it." Jacob said with a kind smile. "Andrew's just a dick. My dad says his father was just the same way."

"Sounds like a great family." I muttered with a small laugh. Jacob laughed as well. The bell rang so we stopped talking. _Tay would be all over him. _I thought to myself, then felt sick to my stomach. I could see that Jacob could sense it.

"You alright?" Jacob asked. "What's wrong?" I just raised my hand.

"Yes Ms. Cahors?" Professor Hanson asked.

"May I go to the bathroom? I don't feel that great." I told him. I guess he could tell I was sick and nodded. I grabbed my bag and quickly bolted for the classroom. I walked down the hall toward my History class because I knew there was a bathroom right across the hall; that was the only bathroom I had found around. I walked in and walked to the farthest stall, locking the door and leaning against the wall.

"I'm sorry Tay." I muttered as tears fell from my eyes. "I should've saved you."

"Damn right." I heard Taylor's voice in front of me. I looked up to see Taylor but something was wrong. She looked angry and dirty. "You should've been there."

"I'm sorry!" I practically yelled. She just glared at me before disappearing. I completely broke down now and sank down onto the floor, my head in my hands. "I'm so sorry Tay. I never wanted this to happen." The bell rang, signaling the end of class so I knew I had to get up to go to History. I wiped the tears away and opened the door, walking over to the sink. I looked at myself in the mirror and cleaned the streaks that the tears had left. After I looked a little better, I walked out and across the hall to my History class where all the guys were waiting.

"Hey Peyton. You alright?" Jacob asked. I simply nodded and took my seat beside Jeraud.

"Hey, Jacob told us that you weren't feeling that great." Jeraud said. "You feelin better?"

"'m fine." I muttered and started in front of me at Professor Mates. Jeraud didn't try and talk again, he just let me be. The class started to put me to sleep but once the bell rang, I was awake and out the door. As I walked out of the school, I was stopped by Andrew and Kara.

"Okay you two are really annoying." I told them, trying to walk past but they kept blocking my way.

"We don't want you here." Kara said. "We don't need you tainting our Spencer image."

"Well I don't want me here either so that makes two of us." I said, trying to walk past her again.

"Why don't you just go back to wherever it is you came from." Kara told me.

"I'll be gone after graduation, don't worry." I told her.

"Not soon enough." Kara said. "Why don't you just go jump off a bridge, I'm sure no one would miss you."

"I would have to agree on that." I told her.

"So why did you come here?" Kara asked. "I heard you killed a girl, is that true?" This made my heart ache. "It is true." Kara said with a smirk.

"I didn…" I couldn't breath. "I didn't kill her."

"That's not what I heard." Kara told me. "You killed her, it's your fault she's dead."

"You have no idea what you're talking about." I felt the world closing in around me.

"You killed someone Cahors." Kara told me. "You're a murderer." I felt my anger rise and glared up at her, my eyes cold. I curled my hand into a fist and brought it back before slamming it into Kara's face.

"Kara!" Yelled Andrew.

"Peyton." Yelled Jeraud, Jacob, Brian, and Edward who had just walked out of the school.

"You little bitch." Andrew glared, moving for me. I pulled my fist back again and moved to hit him but he just grabbed my wrist, making me wince in pain; That was a freshly wounded area.

"Let her go!" Jeraud yelled as he punched Andrew square in the jaw. Andrew let go of my wrist and I fell to the ground. Edward kneeled down beside me to make sure I was alright while the other guys stood around me, protecting me from other people's eyes.

"Peyton, come on." Edward whispered kindly. "We should get you out of here."

"I didn't kill her." I muttered to myself over and over as I shook my head.

"Come on Peyton." Edward said, trying to lift me up but I wouldn't budge. "Some help." Jeraud turned around and kneeled in front of me.

"Peyton, come on." Jeraud said with a kind smile. "We're gonna get you out of here." I was vaguely aware of him picking me up and carrying me bridal style to a big, black Hummer. I felt Jeraud take a seat on my left and Brian a seat on my right while Edward took the driver seat and Jacob hopped into the passenger seat.

"Peyton, where do you live?" Jacob asked, turning around in his seat.

"I didn't kill her." I mumbled, still shaking my head. "It was an accident."

"I think she's going mental on us." Jacob said.

"I'm sorry Tay." I muttered as I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. "I'm so so sorry."

"She's like catatonic." Brian observed.

"Well where are we supposed to take her?" Edward asked.

"Hospital?" Brian shrugged.

"No?!" I shook my head at that. "No hospitals! No!"

"Okay, no hospitals." I felt a hand brush through my hair and I started to calm down slightly.

"Where should we take her then?" Edward asked. "I kinda need to know."

"Why don't we take her to Jeraud's house?" Jacob suggested.

"Oh yeah, my parents would love me bringing home a half-catatonic girl." Jeraud rolled his eyes.

"Maybe your mom could help her though." Brian said. "and Uncle Pogue."

"Why don't we just have Uncle Caleb and Aunt Sarah check her out?" Jeraud shot back.

"Because they're not home, that's why." Brian told him. "You're parents are."

"Why not Uncle Reid and Aunt Megan?" Edward asked.

"Because my father wouldn't know what to do." Jacob said. "Next!"

"Uncle Tyler and Aunt Rachael?" Jeraud suggested.

"Seriously? Dad's still at the office." Edward said. "Your parents are the only ones available." Jeraud sighed and nodded as we made a U-turn and started driving faster. I didn't fight with them as they drove me all over Ipswich. When we came to a stop ten minutes later, Jeraud helped me out of the car and carried me into the house.

"Mom, Dad." Jeraud called. "I need your help!"

"What's wrong Jer?" A woman with Mocha skin and long black hair asked. When she saw me, her eyes widened. "Jer, what happened?"

"Kara Abbott said something to her." Edward said.

"So Peyton punched her." Jacob said with a smirk.

"Then she went to punch Andrew but he grabbed her wrist." Brian continued

"And so I punched him." Jeraud told her.

"Jeraud Elias Parry, what have I told you about…" The woman who I guessed was Kate started.

"What's going on?" A man asked coming down the stairs. I guess he was Pogue.

"I was trying to tell Mom." Jeraud started. "Anyway, after the fight, she got all catatonic and kept muttering 'I didn't kill her'"

"You're a quack, aren't you Aunt Kate?" Jacob asked.

"Jacob Ryan Garwin." Kate said in a disapproving tone.

"That's what dad said." Jacob said, holding up his hands in defense.

"I'm going to kill Reid." Kate muttered under her breath.

"Well can't you do something Aunt Kate?" Edward asked.

"I'll try." Kate sighed. "Jeraud, take her into the living room." I felt the world moving under me as Jeraud carried me into another room and set me down on a soft couch. I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them again, hugging them to me. Kate sat across from me on the coffee table and gave me a warm smile.

"Peyton, what's wrong?" Kate started.

"I didn't kill her." I mumbled again. "I wasn't there to save her."

"Tell me what you're seeing."


End file.
